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Ecoversity
The Switch to Full Recycling and the Removal of Desk Bins on 17th November 2008!
From 9am on Monday 17th November the University of Bradford will have moved into a new era and gone completely desk bin free!
Desk bin removal is a key part of any successful recycling scheme with Leeds University showing a rise from 28% to 62% with the removal of desk bins. We are currently achieving around 50% recycling with the partial removal of desk bins and after this we should see very good performance, perhaps even sector leading!
Graph showing our recycling performance during 2008:
Click here to see a bigger version of the above graph.
As the graph shows, our recycling has climbed through the year, but the two important factors to consider are the total waste going to landfill and the percentage recycled. Ideally the total waste going to landfill will drop and the % recycled or diverted from landfill will rise.
Our recycling rate has risen in September to 68% (in terms of the weight of all the waste leaving the University of Bradford). This amounts to around 30 tonnes of waste being diverted from landfill. This is good but we also wish to see the amount of waste to landfill reducing over time for our system to be deemed a real success. So far we are on the right path and will keep you informed as time goes on.
Released 10 October 2008 read the briefing letter here....
A full recycling system is to be spread throughout the University of Bradford in 2008. This system will collect all possible common waste streams for recycling – paper and card, glass, metals and cans and plastics. Banks of bins shall be situated in easy to reach communal areas and people will be expected to take their waste to these banks of bins. As part of this system desk bins shall be removed from all areas - this offers a system which is much more hygienic and guarantees far higher recycling rates. (University of Leeds piloted a system leaving desk bins in place and found that much lower recycling rates were achieved).
The recycling pilot took place in early 2007 to test the introduction of a new recycling infrastructure for our students and staff. Ecoversity has recently been successful in its business case to roll out this pilot across the University.
To see the briefing provided to staff and students in preparation for the installation of the system please see below
Recycling saves money!
Current Waste Spend ~ £100,000 / annum and Rising fast.
Landfill tax rising at £8 / tonne / annum.
Recycling will save £20,000 - £30,000 per annum after 2-3 year payback.
Recycling is good for the environment
Our landfill sites are rapidly filling up.
Reduce pollution and conserving natural resources.
Save energy on raw materials.
Reduce greenhouse gases.
Stimulate the development of greener technologies.
Recycling is good for reputation
Many UK Universities including Leeds collect >60% of waste for recycling.
UoB (2007) collects approx. 20% of waste for recycling (paper).
Now league tables coming out for Environmental Performance.
People and Planet Green League 2007 - Bradford 16th, Leeds Met 1st!
The following shows a rough schedule for the roll out:
To see a copy of the common items you can and can't recycle in our system have a look at our poster:
The poster shows some of the many confusing items and what should be done with them - if you can think of any others please email environment@bradford.ac.uk
Also see the Estates waste webpages and information on how to deal with a wide variety of other waste: http://www.brad.ac.uk/admin/estates/waste.php
A network of external bins is also in the process of being installed throughout the campuses, all the same waste streams can be placed in these bins as the internal bins.
Once the recycling system has been fully installed a little bit of friendly rivalry shall be introduced by challenging the different schools and departments to which can divert the most of their waste from landfill!
![peace garden fountain 2008.](/admin/ecoversity/"images/peacegardenfountain08-124x187.JPG")
![recycle bins.](/admin/ecoversity/"images/recycle-1.jpg")
